BIG RAPIDS - The Ferris State men’s and women’s basketball teams won games on their home court in the opening round of the GLIAC Tournaments on Wednesday.
In the first game of the night, the Bulldog women shook off a slow start, falling behind 7th-seed Saginaw Valley State by nine points in the first quarter. They used a 19-6 performance in the second quarter to take a lead into the halftime locker room and control of the game. The 2nd-seed Bulldogs went on to win the contest 54-47. DeShonna Day and Kadyn Blanchard led Ferris State with 11 points apiece. Ferris State (22-4) advances to face Northern Michigan in the conference semifinals, at Grand Valley State on Saturday. Top seed Grand Valley State will take on Wisconsin-Parkside on the other side of the bracket.
The Ferris State men battled until the final seconds in their game, edging out Wisconsin-Parkside 84-82. The Bulldogs trailed by eight points at the half, as Josiah Palmer and Rangers shot the lights out in the first half. Palmer led all scorers with 31 points on the night. Teammate Colin O’Rourke added 22. Ferris State though, had a balanced offensive attack, with four different players scoring 16 points; Dolapo Olayinka, Ben Davidson, Amari Lee and Ethan Erickson. Ferris State (23-7) will now meet 7th-seed Wayne State in a semifinal at Northern Michigan University, after the Warriors upset 2nd-seed Lake Superior State. The host Wildcats will take on Grand Valley State in the other semifinal.
